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Police: Student says weapons were for hunting, and he forgot to take them out

School district says there was no indication of a threat to the school

A South Carolina high school student was arrested Monday morning after school employees found a revolver, knives, axes and dozens of rounds of ammunition in his car, police said.

Investigators have no reason to think that the 17-year-old junior at Easley High School planned to attack anyone, Easley police Maj. Tim Tollison said. But the student was charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

"He told school officials he uses the stuff for hunting, and he just forgot to take it out of the car," Tollison said.

The teen was released on $30,000 bail Tuesday morning, Tollison said.

The junior was arrested after a concerned student told school workers that someone had weapons in a vehicle outside the school of roughly 1,600 students, police said.

In the vehicle were a loaded .22-caliber revolver, nine knives, two axes, a stun gun, handcuffs, and more than 200 rounds of ammunition, according to police, who said they believe the weapons belonged to the student's family.

No guns matching the ammunition -- shotgun shells and rifle and handgun rounds -- were in the vehicle, Tollison said.

The Pickens County school district released a statement saying it appears "that the gun and ammunition (were) left in the car after being used for hunting ... and were not taken to the school with the intent to harm anyone."

"However, bringing weapons on school grounds violates state law, and the school district has a zero-tolerance policy towards weapons on school grounds," the district said. "The timing of this incident is extremely unfortunate, but there is no indication that there was ever an intended threat to the school."

District spokesman John Eby said it's not clear what the handcuffs and stun gun were for, but he said officials don't believe they were for an attack on the school.

The incident came three days after a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. In addition, the gunman killed his mother and himself.

In accordance with district policy, the arrested student will be recommended for expulsion for at least a year, the district said.